97-year-old investor doesn't believe Bitcoin will establish itself as a real currency
Warren Buffett (left), Charlie Munger
The long-standing business partner of the investment legend Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, warns of excesses in the face of the record rally on the stock exchanges. The current stock market environment shows signs of bubbles, said 97-year-old Munger on Wednesday. The volatility of the video game retailer GameStop reflected “a dangerous mentality among some investors who bet on stocks as if they were horses”. That couldn't end well.
He just doesn't know when it will come to that, Munger said. At the beginning of the year, the papers of the video game dealer had become the pawn of speculators: small investors forced hedge funds with concerted purchases to cancel bets on the expiry of the GameStop price and thus sometimes put them in a mess.
With a view to the increasing interest in the digital currency Bitcoin, Munger said: “I don't think that Bitcoin will establish itself as a medium of exchange for the world”. The cryptocurrency is too volatile for that. Munger does not own any Bitcoin. He used a quote from author Oscar Wilde about fox hunting to describe Bitcoin as “the unspeakable on the heels of the inedible.”
Munger has been vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, an investment firm led by Buffett, since 1978. With his lucky hand in choosing investments, Buffett has earned himself a high reputation and the honorable title of “the Oracle of Omaha”. Berkshire Hathaway's investment strategy is considered conservative, with a focus on undervalued companies.
